Various types, styles and arrangements of spray nozzles are used in vehicle washing installations for supplying a high pressure water spray containing various chemical compounds against parts of the vehicle to clean the vehicle as it moves past the nozzles or the nozzles are moved with respect to the vehicle. These spray nozzles may be fixed and directed in a predetermined direction for spraying specific generally constant surfaces of a vehicle such as the sides, hoods or roofs of the vehicle and achieve a generally satisfactory result. However, areas of certain vehicles such as the rocker panel, wheels and other irregular surfaces are difficult to clean satisfactory by a fixed nozzle and spray pattern due to the different angles and surface configurations of such rocker panels and wheel for the various vehicles processed in a car wash installation.
One method and device for efficiently cleaning these irregular vehicle surfaces is to use a movable nozzle such as an oscillator or rotary nozzle. These nozzles will increase the area covered by the spray and will reach the irregular surfaces and effectively clean the same. Prior rotary nozzles consist of a plurality of spray nozzles directed at various angles toward the vehicle surface which are rotated by an air motor, electric motor, hydraulic motor, or the like. The use of such motors for supplying the rotary power to the nozzles require additional components and control equipment, such as electric or pneumatic solenoids, a supply of electricity or compressed air and control valves therefor. All of these components increase the cost of the spray nozzle as well as increased maintenance due to the harsh environment to which these additional components are subjected, and increased operating cost.
Other spray devices have used the high pressure liquid that is sprayed from the nozzles for rotating the nozzles. However, these prior devices require that the nozzles be directed at an angle with respect to the surface being cleaned and at an angle to the axis of the shaft on which the nozzles are rotated in order to supply the resultant force component necessary to rotate the nozzles about the shaft. These devices use a large portion of the force of the liquid sprayed from the nozzles for rotating the nozzles instead of directing the entire force of the sprayed liquid against the surface being cleaned. Thus, the cleaning efficiency of the nozzle is reduced by reducing the pressure exerted by the liquid against the vehicle since a large portion of the liquid pressure is used for rotating the nozzles.
Therefore the need has existed for a rotary spray device which is self-powered by use of only a very small amount of the high pressure liquid that is sprayed from the nozzle. There is no known rotary spray device of which I am aware which accomplishes this result other than my invention described in detail below.